Summer Road responds to Ingles Markets ‘misleading public statements’

Summer Road issued the following statement in response to Ingles Markets, Incorporated’s repeated dishonest and misleading public statements. “The company’s daily, disjointed attacks on Summer Road should make shareholders question the judgment of the incumbent Board and its vehement opposition to the election of a truly independent Class A shareholder voice. To suggest that Rory A. Held, due to being a trustee of Summer Road’s family office client, would be prohibited from acting in the best interest of Ingles shareholders demonstrates the Board’s complete lack of understanding of public company governance. Mr. Held has been entrusted as a fiduciary for multiple families (not just clients of Summer Road) because of his financial acumen, sound judgment and personal integrity. The fact that multiple families place their long-term financial security in Mr. Held’s hands is a powerful testament to the credibility and independent thinking he would bring to the Ingles boardroom. To be clear, if elected to the Board, Mr. Held – who personally owns more Ingles stock than all the ‘independent’ Board members combined, directly aligning his interests with shareholders – would owe a fiduciary duty to all Ingles shareholders that legally supersedes any other obligation. Using the Company’s faulty logic and misunderstanding of corporate governance, Chairman Robert P. Ingle, II should be disqualified from serving as a director given that he is a trustee for Ingle family trusts. The Board’s smear and distraction campaign does nothing to address the facts of Ingles’ lagging shareholder returns, deficient disclosure, lack of boardroom accountability, operational underperformance and disastrous capital allocation. We encourage shareholders to elect Mr. Held to ensure that Class A shareholders finally have true independent representation on Ingles’ Board.”